Vegan With a Vengeance was one of the first vegan cookbooks I got after making the switch, and The Best Pumpkin Muffins recipe quickly became one of my favorites. Isa’s not kidding around with the title of these muffins—they’re amazing. However, part of the reason for this deliciousness might be that the recipe calls for 1/2 cup vegetable oil and 1 1/4 cups sugar. Throw some chocolate ganache on these puppies and you could easily pass them off as cupcakes. And while I’m all for eating cupcakes for breakfast, I believe that should be a special—i.e. rare—event. And I believe these muffins should be eaten frequently, especially during the fall.
So, over the years, I’ve tweaked the original recipe, swapping in some whole grains, reducing the fat content, and decreasing the amount of sugar. And then I go and undo all that by throwing in a handful of chocolate chips, but whatever. I don’t want to talk about that. Here, then, is my healthified variation on the VWaV recipe:
Dry ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground or freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/8 tsp ground cloves
Wet ingredients:
1 cup puréed pumpkin (fresh or canned)
1/2 cup soy milk
1/3 cup applesauce
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 Tbsp molasses
2 Tbsp maple syrup
Optional ingredients:
1 cup chocolate chips
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line or grease muffin tins (recipe yields 16 regular sized muffins). Combine dry ingredients, combine wet ingredients, and then combine wet with dry ingredients. Mix minimally (just enough to incorporate because over-mixing will activate the gluten in the flour and give you a dense, chewy muffin). Fold in the chocolate chips last. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake for 18-20 minutes.
Vegan With a Vengeance was one of the first vegan cookbooks I got after making the switch, and The Best Pumpkin Muffins recipe quickly became one of my favorites. Isa’s not kidding around with the title of these muffins—they’re amazing. However, part of the reason for this deliciousness might be that the recipe calls for 1/2 cup vegetable oil and 1 1/4 cups sugar. Throw some chocolate ganache on these puppies and you could easily pass them off as cupcakes. And while I’m all for eating cupcakes for breakfast, I believe that should be a special—i.e. rare—event. And I believe these muffins should be eaten frequently, especially during the fall.
So, over the years, I’ve tweaked the original recipe, swapping in some whole grains, reducing the fat content, and decreasing the amount of sugar. And then I go and undo all that by throwing in a handful of chocolate chips, but whatever. I don’t want to talk about that. Here, then, is my healthified variation on the VWaV recipe:
Dry ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground or freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/8 tsp ground cloves
Wet ingredients:
1 cup puréed pumpkin (fresh or canned)
1/2 cup soy milk
1/3 cup applesauce
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 Tbsp molasses
2 Tbsp maple syrup
Optional ingredients:
1 cup chocolate chips
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line or grease muffin tins (recipe yields 16 regular sized muffins). Combine dry ingredients, combine wet ingredients, and then combine wet with dry ingredients. Mix minimally (just enough to incorporate because over-mixing will activate the gluten in the flour and give you a dense, chewy muffin). Fold in the chocolate chips last. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake for 18-20 minutes.